Lt.-Col. Levi Itah, 42, is the head of alert systems at the IDF Home Front Command.
His younger brother, Maj. Ilan Itah, 41, of the IDF’s Teleprocessing Branch,
oversees the channel of complex communications that begins with the detection of
an incoming threat and ends with a siren going off in an Israeli
city.

During the weekdays, the two brothers speak regularly, helping to
solve one another’s technical problems.

“When I have an error in my
system, I know who to call,” Levi told The Jerusalem Post on Monday. But the
work talk doesn’t end there.

“On Friday evenings, we’ll end up talking
about the army. Our wives get annoyed,” Ilan added.

“It’s a part of us.
Our commitment is total.

We see this as a mission, an expression of our
love for the country and the need to significantly contribute to
it.”

Both brothers studied computing at school, and enrolled in the
Teleprocessing Branch.

Levi went on to serve in the communications field
in the army, while Ilan served in a computer unit.

“Today, these two
areas are merged into one world. On the way, we met several times in the army.
Fate brought us to this point,” Levi said.

His role is made up of two
basic components.

“I’m setting up the future alert system, and
maintaining the current system,” he explained.

Ilan, who is based at the
IDF’s Computer and Information System Center, provides the technical support and
maintenance for the links in the computing chain that lead up to the
siren.

The current rocket alert system is the most advanced in the world,
and became operational in July 2012, the brothers said.

“We built it over
two years. This is the result of very impressive cooperation between the
Teleprocessing Branch, the Home Front Command, and the Israel Air Force. This
system saves lives. It came into action for the first time during Operation
Pillar of Defense [in November 2012],” Levi said.

“Beyond saving lives,
we’re also enabling national resilience by creating area-specific sirens. This
allows civilians who are not threatened to continue with their routine,” he
explained.

During the 1991 First Gulf War, whenever an Iraqi Scud missile
was fired at Israel, air raid sirens blared across the whole of the country.
Now, Israel is divided into more than 100 alert areas, allowing for very
specific warnings.

“Every time a rocket or missile is fired, we know
where it’s going. Only the relevant people are alerted,” Levi
stated.

“Our cooperation is critical for operating the system, from the
detection point to the siren,” Ilan added.

The new system also enjoys
more detection capabilities than past alert systems.

“We utilize all of
the available detection resources to spot things coming out of the sky,” Levi
said.

He added that technological upgrades would soon enable Israelis to
have a fully automatic alert system that does not require any manual
intervention.

“In the future, there will be one, central platform to send
alerts and instructions on a variety of threats, not just missiles. This
includes hazardous substances, terror attacks and tsunamis,” Levi
added.

“Under a three-year plan, we’re setting up a national message
center that will utilize TV, radio, the Internet and cellphones to reach
civilians wherever they are.”

Several European countries have expressed
an interest in the Israeli alert system, the brothers said.

“We’re a
country under threat, which is making good progress in this field,” Levi said,
to which Ilan added, “This is a form of pioneering.”

The Jerusalem Post Customer Service Center can be contacted with any questions or requests:
Telephone: *2421 * Extension 4 Jerusalem Post or 03-7619056 Fax: 03-5613699E-mail: subs@jpost.com
The center is staffed and provides answers on Sundays through Thursdays between 07:00 and 14:00 and Fridays only handles distribution requests between 7:00 and
13:00
For international customers: The center is staffed and provides answers on Sundays through Thursdays between 7AM and 6PM
Toll Free number in Israel only 1-800-574-574
Telephone +972-3-761-9056
Fax: 972-3-561-3699
E-mail: subs@jpost.com